Month:

October 2018

As a startup founder, working with other startup founders on a day to day basis, I get a huge amount of exposure to the European startups scene. I probably met upwards of 1000 startup founders in the past year. After at least 20 years in corporate life as a salesman and then management consultant I am in a good position to see the benefits of startup life!

The founders have vision and passion – The best startup founders are on a mission. They have identified a problem or opportunity and will risk everything to ensure that they address it. They usually have immense positive energy and have the ability to motivate others to follow their vision.

Startups change the way we live – In most walks of life it is difficult to make a real, direct impact. Startups can bring radical change within relatively short timescales and with a small injection of capital. We only have to look at companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Airbnb and Instagram to see the diversity of change that is possible.

They shake up existing companies – Startups have little respect for the status quo. The taxis in San Francisco were awful; Uber gave a great alternative. The banks and other near-monopolies will be next. There are already startups nibbling away at the non-core activities of these monolithic businesses, providing customers with a better customer experience at a lower cost. It will not be long before startups will disrupt any business that does not provide exceptional service, and the really exciting thing is that they can turn to very nearly any market!

They are a creative learning process – Working on a startup is a constant learning experience. Small team sizes mean that everyone works on every aspect of the business. The environment is dynamic and subject to constant change as competitors emerge and market conditions change. Startup founders have to be highly creative, to imagine new solutions, unique business models and innovative processes.

They are a great environment to work in – Startups are a very different working environment to most enterprises. There is no time for politics or egos. The most important thing is getting the job done as effectively as possible. Startups are finely balanced and there is little room for hanger-oners. The pressure is invigorating, and no two days are the same. They also tend to make use of some of the excellent collaboration and time saving software that exists today – from Slack to Power BI data visualisation, Google Apps for business to Xero, there are programs that help startups (that in turn are now successful once-startups) save time and money where it matters.

Enterprises are increasingly finding it difficult to innovate in the face of competition from smaller more nimble competition. Startups represent an alternative way of organising resources which provides more fulfilment to founder teams and employees and deliver accelerated results. There is little doubt that life in a startup can be extremely tough and is … Read More

In today’s world, your company’s online reputation can be your strongest asset or a pesky liability. One of the most common ways that consumers learn about a company is by reading reviews from past customers. Reviews and testimonials give prospective customers first-hand details of how your brand operates.

So, what do you do if your online reputation has been tarnished with bad Google reviews? Here are four tactics that will help your company to outgrow bad ratings.

1. Respond Instead of Ignoring

After going online and seeing negative Google reviews about your business, it’s hard to not want to recant and tell your side of the story. While it’s a human instinct to want to defend ourselves and those things most important to us, one of the worst things you can do in reaction to a negative review is to pick fight with customers.

Instead of starting a war of words, which only further ruins your business’ online reputation, respond professionally. Refuting a customer’s review will only shed a further negative light on your company. But, by at least taking the time to acknowledge both negative and positive reviews, it shows customers that you’re engaged and willing to accept that your business has room for improvement.

Responding to negative responses also shows that you do care about how customers feel and that your brand is approachable. A personal brand is a successful one.

2. Accept Criticism as Being Constructive

No one likes to hear bad things about their business. Companies are a labor of love and after putting so much time, effort, and energy into your business, it can be hurtful to see negative words. While bad reviews are a hard pill to swallow, instead of reacting negatively or ignoring them, take the high road and turn them into constructive criticism. When responding to customers, let them know of the changes you’ve made to mitigate the problem. At the end of your response welcome them back for business with the promise of an improved experience.

By taking the time to acknowledge negative reviews, it shows customers that you’re being proactive in improving your business. This shows that not only do you care about how customers view your business, it also shows that you care about customer experience and that your brand is quite approachable.

3. Have a Plan to Offset Negative Reviews

The next step in understanding how to fix my online reputation is to create a plan for offsetting negative reviews. By having a plan to have customers write more positive reviews is very helpful in offsetting bad ratings. While good reviews don’t negate bad ones, they will improve your overall rating and will give consumers more reasons to view your company in a positive light.… Read More

The farm industry has changed dramatically over the years. Some of the most notable changes have occurred due to the advanced technology that has transformed how a farm is actually operated today. To survive, it is very important that every farm owner and their workers have the resources that they need to be successful including securing the finances to run an effective operation. Fortunately, there are many different things that can be done to ensure both the small and large farms are privy to the same or similar technologies, especially because they are needed to go forward now and in the near future. One of the biggest hurdles to obtaining the finances needed is finding a lender that will be comfortable with filling in these financial gaps.

Having said that, this is where some of the most reputable financiers come into the picture. Since some of the top organizations in the finance area are committed to assisting with financing farms and their growth, they are known for making sure that farmers who need the financial help will receive what they are looking for. Here are a few things that you need to know about obtaining funds for a farm.

1. Financing Institutions

First of all, the smaller funds usually need a unique financial institution that is actually founded by the industry, such as Sprout Agriculture. Because these financial institutions of farmers are seeing the need for better financial support within the industry, they have begun to band together to solve their own industry problems. Due to financial needs and other resources being lacking in other traditional financial institutions, they have consolidated their financial efforts to provide a financial resource for those who need financial help. This is because the basic premise of these types of organizations is to make sure farmers within their own communities can obtain the best technologies in the industry to run their operations effectively and efficiently.

2. One Stop Shop for Farmers and their Financial Needs

Due to the fact that this financial institution is there to make sure all who have a need obtain what they want, they are also committed to providing an innovation that makes up a one stop shop for farmers and their financial needs. With some farming financial institutions being based in Brisbane, Queensland, farmers can have a one stop shop access to their own advisory board and obtain representation notoriety internationally.

Even though technology has been a big blow to the success of the small farmer, there is still room for the farmer that has the capability to support themselves through their own efforts. To make sure these farmers have a stable environment to draw from when it is really needed, there are families who are also committed to helping to assist families who own multi-generational farms. So, some of these finance companies have committed to building a bridge that will allow … Read More

Every small business leader is going to need someone to look over the numbers when they get a business started. In the early stages of starting a business the only thing that you may think about is marketing and promoting. You may have your mind on how you can build up your company and sell products. It may never cross your mind that there is going to be a great need for someone that can assist you with your accounting
needs.

As your business grows it becomes evident that you are going to need accounting services to help you when tax time comes. There are business owners that rely on Watson & Watt to handle their accounting needs. It is good to know about your profits and the things that you can deduct from the cost of operations. You need to have balance sheet for your business so that you know what you can pay as well as those things that you can write off. Small business leaders that get with accountants get this information up front to make better decisions when it comes to saving money to pay off taxes if they have a situation where they owe taxes.

Taking Control of Home finances

It is not only the business leader that is going to be in need of accountants services. There are also home owners that need someone to help them with their accounting practices as well. If you are someone that has multiple streams of income you will need an accountant to help you figure out the things that you need to be putting on your taxes in concerns to interest for certificates of deposit or returns on your investments from your stocks.

The working class has many opportunities to make extra income, but you always need to be aware that there are taxes involved in the income that you are making. If you are getting money that is paid to you for services where you may be freelancing there may not be any taxes when you complete the job.

At the end of the year, however, you may find yourself getting 1095 forms for miscellaneous income. If you do not know what to do with these types of forms, you will need to get with an accountant that can give you some way to handle the documents that you have in your possession.

Better Management for Your Finances

Overall, the tax accountant is someone that is going to consistently help you take better control of your financial matters. There are some people that work as contractors and they may not know what they can write off. There are others that may drive cars and wonder if there is any type of depreciation that they can write off for contract at work that they do. There is an assortment of things that people can take a look at when it comes to their taxes to make better financial decisions if they have accountants.… Read More

Owning a café franchise can be something to smile about. You have the hot spot in the area, you have the attractive aroma to smell every morning, and you have customers on day one. It is a business you could love instantly and since it’s a franchise it will be more manageable than starting from scratch. You should buy a café franchise because the business will most likely succeed, you have easy to learn products and the franchise can be affordable to purchase.

Most Likely To Succeed

If you’re thinking about coffee, then you know most people love it. A coffee shop is not just about the brand. Even though there are favorites out there, for some people, it’s just about good coffee. It’s also about a place to come and be comfortable and bring a book, laptop, or cell phone and just get work or studying done. Your cafe shop will be that place for people. All you have to do is pick a convenient location. It needs to be easily accessible. If you’re interested in purchasing a known brand to have your franchise do well from the very beginning, you can search Mrs Fields franchise for sale.

Easy To Learn Products

Cafés are small, and they don’t have many products. This is a huge bonus when thinking about learning what you’re selling and how they are supposed to appear. A franchise owner may over time want to take an interest in the tastes of the coffee and other drinks and even the textures of the deserts. You want to be familiar so if a problem arises you can instantly recognize that something is different about your product. Your inventory will be extremely manageable, and you’ll know your flavors in no time. You don’t have the stress of changing things up because as a franchise everything will be standard.

Affordable To Purchase

Your franchise doesn’t have to break the bank. There are many small businesses for sale out there that are only a fraction of the minimum initial investment these other companies are asking for. Also, a café is small enough that you might not even need that much space to start out with. A café franchise is a fun investment for you. You’ll get to know your customers and building rapport also helps influence loyalty. Great customer service can help contribute to boosting the brand in general.

Conclusion

Owning a business can be stressful, but you remove about half of that stress when you purchase a franchise. The blueprint is already laid out for you. There are principles, corporate values, and guidelines for you to follow and as long as you honor the brand you will rest easy. There will be work but it won’t be as hard as you trying to create the wheel and hoping that people take an interest. A café already has a crowd of people that will stop by. The only way you will need to be creative is what you do … Read More